The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is doing everything in its power to get out of financial trouble.
Vice-chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said today that in an effort to become self-sufficient in the next decade, UWI would go to the capital market for the first time in its 73-year history.
The University will in short order float a US$60 million dollar bond on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange.
Money will be used to build a state of the art offshore medical school in the twin-island state, a move which could lead to more than 25 per cent of The UWI’s revenue moving forward.
In addition, there is a plan for The UWI’s Open Campus to expand significantly by increasing its enrollment from 8 000 students to 80 000 over a short period, which could also bring in millions over the next three years.
It’s all in the push to become less dependent on regional governments and a player as a commercial entity.
Sir Hilary made the revelations today during an almost two-hour State of the University address on UWItv.
The Vice-cChancellor admitted that the campuses across the region made mistakes in how they went about their financial business, which led to challenges when governments across the Caribbean also encountered difficulties.
He said they would make no apology, however, as the aim was to increase enrollment across campuses since the Caribbean had the hemisphere’s lowest enrollment rates.
He said there was much of which The UWI could be proud, especially research done in the last three years on chronic diseases, cricket and COVID-19. (BA)